The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-06-04
WHAT THE SOUTH HAS DONE.
B. T. Ward, of Winona Miss, Answers
an Article in the Century"

an Artlcle in the century
From. the Jackson (NiSs.) Clarion.
The South has been the land Of 'enter-
prises of great pith and moment" rather
than the nursery of scribblers. She has
made history for others to write and sell.
For more than 100 years the grand march
OF the American intellect has been projected
from Southern brains.
The fine moral and intellectual organiza-
ton of Southern children has heretofore been
| largely due to the fact that their mothers
were exempt from the hardShlpS OF physical
drudgery and the depressing effects OF I'M
pending want
VA Southern man led the patriotic armies
to victory and established the possibilities OF
the proudest nation on the earth. South
er'n man was prime mover OF the convention
that framed the constitution. When the
government was created its organic Laws
were still an unexplained book, ponderous
oar in unslzilled hands
1t was left for the greatest legal mind of
the age, a Southern Chief Justice, to ana
lyze and stamp upon it the construction
which will be accepted as long as the constl-
tuition is respected
A Southern man framed the ordinance for
the organization and government of the
great Northwestern territory, an lnstru-
ment second in Importance only to the con-
stitution of the United States
A Southern man was the author of the
republican theory of popular government,
which prevailed during the sixty years OF
our greatest prosperity, peace and happl-
| ness. Of the fifteen Presidents of the Con-
tinental Congress eight were from slave
States.
Where is there an example of modern sea-
manship that will compare with the daring
and brilliant cruise Of Admiral Semmes,
who with single ship swept from the seas
| the commerce of great nation9 Who was
| it that mapped the geography of the seas,
explained their secret phenomena, blazed
out on the trackless ocean the shortest and
safest highways for the commerce of the
world, by his "Wind and Current Charts"
and his Sailing Directions" saving TO the
United States millions of dollars annually
on outgoing tonnage alone? Matthew F.
Maury, a Southern man to the core, and by
common consent of all nations accorded the
proud title of philosopher of the Seas"
Where is there parallel to Audubon, the
naturalist and ornithologist of the world?
Chloroform, that has robbed the surgeons
knife of all its terrors, was first applied bya
Southern physician.
The two greatest eras in surgery for the
last two centuries, in fact, two of the great
est in surgical history, were marked by two
Southern physicians, Ephraim Mcdowell,
of Kentucky, and j. Marion Sims, of Ala
bama. In their respective branches the sur
gerry of the whole enlightened world recog-
niZeS and follows the leadership of these
famous men.
Ben Hill was the only man in America
who ever made 81 900, 900 as the direct pro-
duct of his brain, independent of invest
| ment or speculation; in addition to which
he gave fifteen of his best years to active
public service
The only approximation to his record was
that of another Southern lawyer, Judah z.
Benjamin, who went to England after the
meridian of life and became the leading jur-
list in that land of great lawyers.
From 1889 to 1858, period of sixty-four
years, embracing eleven administrations,
the slave States furnished eight Presidents,
whose terms of service covered fifty two
| years. During the same time the free States
| furnished three Presidents, whose combined
terms covered twelve years.
| OF the twelve Vice Presidents, four were
| from slave States.
Under these eleven administrations the
slave States supplied fourteen Secretaries of
State, eleven Secretaries of War, six Secre-
| taries of the Treasury, nine Secretaries of
the Navy and eight Postmaster Generals.
OF fifty-five Presidents pro tenn. of the
| Senate, thirty-nine were from slave States.
| OF thirty-one Speakers of the House,
| twenty-five were from slave States.
| OF five Chief Justices, two, and the only
two Of great eminence, were from slave
| States.
OF twenty-nine Associate Justices, seven
| teen were from slave States
OF twenty nine Attorney Generals four
teen were from slave States.
OF 1876 public ministers to foreign coun-
| tries, ninety-nine were from slave States.
| Without going further into exhaustive de-
tails for which material is abundant, we
| affirm, without fear of decent denial, that
along the lines of these fifty-two years are
ranged all the broad and lofty conceptions
of craftsmanship, all the bold and fruitful
enterprises, all the grand and comprehen-
sive achievements from which have evolved
the pride, the power and the glory of the
American people.